ANNAPOLIS, Maryland (AP) _ Syria left a Mideast peace conference with nothing concrete on reviving its stalled peace talks with Israel. But its delegates received warm handshakes and words of thanks from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, whose administration has all but shunned the Arab state.

At the end of a day of speeches and meetings in Annapolis Tuesday that focused on pushing forward the Israeli-Palestinian track, Rice walked over to the Syrian delegates, according Imad Moustapha, Syria's ambassador to Washington.

"She shook hands with us and thanked us for participating," Moustapha told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Thursday. "She also asked us to pass our greetings to Foreign Minister Waleed al-Moallem."

"Her body language was very positive," he added. "(The encounter) was very relaxed. There was no tension."

The gesture may have been a small one, and it may have been more symbolic than substantive. But, coming on top of Syria's willingness to participate in the conference, it could indicate a slight thaw in the ice that has marked relations between the U.S. and Syria for almost three years.

Syrian-U.S. ties took a sharp dip following the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, an attack which many blamed on Damascus. The U.S. pulled out its ambassador to Syria and clamped a diplomatic boycott on the country, accusing it of destabilizing Lebanon, sending insurgents to Iraq and supporting the militant anti-Israel groups Hezbollah and Hamas.

Many analysts believe that a thaw in U.S.-Syrian relations will help break the impasse in Lebanon that has prevented the election of a new president and it could help dilute Iran's influence in the region. Iran, which does not have a border with Lebanon, Hamas or Syria, will find it hard to reach out to the groups it supports there without Syria's role as a go-between.

Asked if the Annapolis meeting has helped ease the tensions, Moustapha said: "In principle, it should ease the tensions. We always hope that the tensions would ease."

Moustapha, who likes to joke that he's the loneliest ambassador in Washington because no one in the administration talks to him, noted that State Department spokesman Sean McCormack's remarks about Syria on Wednesday were "positive, not negative."

In his briefing, McCormack said that "most people listening to the comments of the (Syrian) deputy foreign minister in the session .... would say that they were very constructive comments. They added to the discussion."

Asked if the Israeli- Palestinian track needs to be resolved before any attention should be diverted to other tracks, McCormack said, "Our focus is on that track. ... The track with the Syrians is much less mature in that regard."

Moustapha also said there is nothing concrete regarding any of the details pertaining to reviving talks with Israel, which have stalled since their negotiations in Shepherdstown, W.Va., in 2001.

But he said that at the conference, Russia proposed holding a follow-up meeting in Moscow "so that the momentum would not start to wane."

"There was no discussion of details. It was just a broad statement of ideas and positions," he said. "It was a positive concept, but we have to wait and see how it evolves."

Asked whether Syria left the forum satisfied, Moustapha said the conference gave Damascus a chance to remind the world of the Golan Heights, which it lost to Israel in 1967. The last talks between Israel and Syria broke down over the scope of an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan, a strategic plateau. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has signaled he is prepared to give up the Golan under a peace agreement.

"At least we were very realistic, and we didn't waste such an opportunity to remind the world of such an issue," Moustapha said.

"Now the onus is on the Americans and the Israelis," he added. "Do they want this issue to be a domestic issue, a grand meeting or are they serious about addressing the Mideast conflict?"

Asked about Iran's displeasure over Syria's attendance, Moustapha said: "Iran has its position about the Arab-Israeli conflict, and we have our position."

"We will maintain our strategic friendship, but we do not impose on each other's foreign policies," he added.